Prof. Jannie resigns

Professor Jannie Ferreira, head of the embattled Golden Lions Rugby Union, has reportedly resigned but hours later was said to be reconsidering his action.

It is understood that there have been moves from a group of dissidents from senior clubs to remove him from his presidency at the Golden Lions and that Ferreira’s sudden resignation followed serious tension behind the scenes over the past week.

There is much unhappiness at club level and this follows the axing of Lions chief coach Eugene Eloff, shortly after the Super14 series.

But by late Tuesday afternoon Ferreira had informed SARU president Oregan Hoskins that he was reconsidering his resignation.

Former Bok coach Jake White’s company, Winning Ways, is conducting an audit of all rugby structures of the GLRU.

A member of the group of dissidents, who wants to remain anonymous, told Beeld that either Ferreira resigned or he would be voted out at a special annual meeting.

Ferreira is being accused of poor management of the union. Eloff’s sacking and the departure of a large amount of Lions players were according to the dissidents, the last straw.

The unhappy group believe they have enough support to get rid of Ferreira, should not want to resign of his own accord.

Ferreira’s initial resignation early on Tuesday morning was seen as an indication that he was aware of people’s dissatisfaction.

Ferreira informed members of SARU’s president’s council via e-mail about his resignation but not of his later decision to reconsider it. Rugby officials from the Golden Lions and SARU were therefore on Tuesday night in the dark about Ferreira’s position.

Hoskins told Beeld that he had asked Ferreira to inform him on Wednesday about where he stood exactly regarding his decision and whether or not he would resign from the president’s council.

The group of dissidents on Tuesday night said they would press on with plans to get rid of Ferreira at the Lions, whether or not he resigned from the president’s council.

11 COMMENTS

A club revolt has forced Golden Lions Rugby Union President Jannie Ferreira to resign, with immediate effect.

This is the latest as the fall-out over the controversial axing of coach Eugene Eloff and the appointment of Jake White as “auditor” continues to reverberate around the country.

As rugby365.com reported at the weekend, a group of influential former players have formed a pressure group, which met with the clubs on Monday.

The meeting, at which all 21 (11 senior and 10 junior) clubs were represented, decided unanimously that the President should resign with immediate effect.

The clubs, which have the constitutional power to call for an extraordinary general meeting, met with Ferreira and his deputy Manie Reyneke on Tuesday – where they were informed of the pressure group’s wishes.

However, rather than face a ‘vote of no confidence’ at an extraordinary meeting, Ferreira decided to fall on his sword.

Reyneke also resigned from his position as Deputy President, but will remain on as CEO of the GLRU – which is a paid position.

However, it is a given that his contract will not be renewed when his current term expires.

The clubs, which needed just a two-thirds majority of 15, decided unanimously hat the blame for the Lions’ poor performances should not be laid at the door of the coach, Eloff, alone and that senior management are to blame for the dire position the union finds itself in.

The departure of Ferreira, and imminent departure of Reyneke, follows their decision to appoint Jake White’s Winning Ways (Pty) Ltd to do an ‘audit’ of all the structures of the GLRU.

However, following a 36-hour period which was marked by deceit and lies, it was announced that White’s audit had found that Eloff should be fired.

While the audit continued, with the blessing of Ferreira and Reyneke, after Eloff’s controversial departure last week, the lobby group held a series of meetings over the weekend.

The turning point came at a meeting with clubs on Monday, where all 21 clubs threw their collective weight behind the move to have Ferreira and Reyneke removed from power.

Well – can things get any worse at the Lions ? Think if they select the best XV from club rugby and let them play against the B&I Lions we’ll see a more spirited display than that abomination we saw lst week.

We all like the saying “a fish rot from the head down”. However, in this case the union should start looking at a complete new player-base. The current players are a bunch of fat, lazy prima-donnas, who show no commitment week after week, safe in the knowledge that their jobs are safe. Should any coach / manager try to change things, they either cry racism or threat to strike.

So get rid of 90% of the dead wood and invest in young players or even experienced players from smaller regions, willing to put their bodies on teh line in return of fat pay cheques. And please, get rid of the most overrated captain in SA rugby, an idiot that still thinks long sidies are so fashionable!